A debt instrument represents a contract whereby one party lends money to another on pre-determined terms about rate and periodicity of interest, repayment of principal amount by the borrower to the lender. In the Indian securities market, the term 'bond' is used for debt instruments issued by the Central and State governments and public sector organizations and the term 'debenture' is used for instruments issued by private corporate sector. Bonds and debentures represent long-term debt instruments.

Portfolio management is the art of managing different asset classes with the purpose of meeting the investor’s financial objective as per his risk appetite. Appropriate risk- reward relationship, time horizon for reaching the desired financial goals and the amount of capital to be managed are the three basic ingredients of portfolio management.

Taxes in India are of two types – Direct and Indirect. Taxes that cannot be collected from third parties and whose burden directly falls on the tax payer are called Direct Taxes. Personal Income Tax, Corporate Tax and Wealth tax are examples of Direct Taxes. Indirect Taxes are those whose burden can generally be passed on to third parties and can be rightfully collected from them. The principal Indirect Taxes levied in India are Customs Duty, Excise Duty, Service Tax and Sales Tax.

Exchange Traded Funds are essentially Index Funds that are listed and traded on exchanges like stocks. An ETF is a basket of stocks that reflects the composition of an Index, like S&P CNX Nifty or BSE Sensex. The ETFs trading value is based on the net asset value of the underlying stocks that it represents; meaning thereby, that it is a mutual fund that can be bought and sold in real-time at a price that changes throughout the day.

A scheme, which invests predominant portion of its fund in equity and equity related instruments, is known as an equity scheme. This kind of a scheme exhibits all the attributes of an equity instrument viz., it has comparatively high risk, high return potential and extremely volatile. An investor entering an equity fund should understand that he is taking risk and should be prepared to remain invested in such a scheme for a long tenure. The aim of growth funds is to provide capital appreciation over the medium to long- term.

The cost of medical treatment is rising as days are passing by. As the age of human being or family size increase, medical expenses tend to rise significantly. Without a suitable health cover in place, medical expenditure can drain liquid assets and create a lasting impact on one’s financial plan. That is why, it is advised to purchase a suitable and appropriate health insurance policy, under which the cover is available for medical expenses incurred due to various health hazards.

Life Insurance Planning is planning for a situation when the individual on whom the family is dependent for fulfillment of their goals is not alive. In case of one’s death, the family may face two types of losses: Financial Loss and Emotional Loss. While the latter happens in all the cases, the former happens if an earning member of the family dies. Life insurance helps the family to overcome this financial loss, by analyzing and estimating the financial loss the family is likely to incur and by considering one’s family expenses and future goals.

Apart from human capital, many other things need to be protected which include health, home contents, motor vehicles, etc. the three broad classification specified in Indian Insurance Act, 1938 and adopted by Indian insurance industry are: Fire Insurance, Marine Insurance and Miscellaneous Insurance.